This invention relates generally to musical instruments, and more particularly to stringed instruments designed to collapse for travel.
String musicians, especially guitarists, have long desired for convenient access to an instrument during their travels, so that wherever they may be, they may reach for their instrument and play it. However, due to the size and delicacy of string instruments like the guitar, it has never been fully practical to carry such an instrument with one""s hand luggage for impromptu use.
The usual attempt to provide a travel stringed instrument typically involves scaling down the dimensions of a standard instrument. However, when in use, the musician is required to compensate for the difference in size and accept the consequent adverse effect on his playing. Additionally, none of the scaled down instruments are compact enough not to be bothersome during one""s non-playing activities. Thus it may be concluded that the travel stringed instrument desired by musicians must be a full-scale instrument collapsible in some fashion. A search of prior art has revealed the following representative patents for collapsible stringed instruments cited below.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,073,211 to Jorgensen discloses a guitar with a neck pivotally attached to its body so that it may swing downwards and be stored in a recess in the back of the body. To account for increased string travel around the body, the Jorgensen instrument requires the operator to manually move the string mount from a first position to a second position toward the neck, and manually place the strings into grooves defined in the instrument body. This procedure is disadvantageous because it requires excessive time and patience from the operator each time the instrument is transformed. In addition, the instrument needs to be re-tuned when the neck is returned to its operative position. Furthermore, due to the direction of pivotal neck motion, the Jorgensen instrument has too small a surface area to produce rigid contact between neck and body when the neck is in its operative position, thus adversely effecting the instrument""s tonal characteristics.
Like the Jorgensen instrument, U.S. Pat. No. 4,111,093 to Field and Steger also features a neck that is pivotally attached to the instrument body so that it may swing downward and be stored in the back of the body. In order to account for the increased string travel around the back of the instrument, Field and Steger teach a moveable string mount in communication with the pivotal attachment of neck to body by gears and gear rods; a return roller with grooves connected to the pivot supports the strings as they pass around the back of the instrument. In practice however, this instrument would necessitate the return roller to protrude above the body to properly support the instrument""s strings when the instrument is transformed thus greatly diminishing the available upper surface area which would compromise the playing of the operator. If the return roller lies below the body, the strings will be subject to sharp contact with the neck and body when the neck is folded.
As with the Jorgensen instrument, the Field Steger design also suffers from a lack of rigid contact between neck and body due to its neck motion with the likely result of poor tonal quality. Additionally, the presence, complexity and necessary arrangement of the gears, rods and return roller in the neck, is likely to further degrade tonal quality and disadvantageously increase the size of the instrument.
U.S. Pat. No 4,191,085 to Litwin and U.S. Pat. No. 4,638,708 to Kamal are prior art examples of collapsible stringed instruments that burden the user with complete detachment of the neck every time the instrument is transformed. This procedure requires excessive time and patience and also makes present the danger that the instrument""s strings be subject to sharp bending and buckling which would make a pure tuning of the instrument impossible when reassembled. U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,385 to Gilbert discloses a guitar with a neck that folds up on top of the body by way of two parallel swingable links. However, this arrangement takes no account of the strings leaving them free to fall tangled and prey to bending and buckling, this makes a pure tuning of the instrument unlikely when the neck is returned to its operative position. In addition, in order to overcome string tension, the operator may be subject to over exertion by being required to forcibly lever the neck when returning it to its operative position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,390,578 to Raymer teaches a guitar with a neck rotatably attached to a body to allow rotation of the neck on a parallel plane in relation to the main surfaces of the body from an open position to a stowed position within a body recess at an angle juxtaposed from the longitudinal axis defined by the neck in its open position. This arrangement would necessitate an undesirable width for a travel instrument body. As with the Gilbert design, no provision is made to ensure that the guitar strings are free from bending and buckling making a quick and pure tuning of the instrument improbable when returned to playable form. In addition, due to string tension, the user is burdened by being subject to possible over exertion by being required to lever the neck to its open position.
It can be concluded from the above analysis, that prior art has thus far failed to provide a design for a collapsible stringed instrument that stows its strings in an optimum manner in order to avoid damage to them, folds into a compact space for travel, transforms quickly from travel form to operative form and when in operative form, retains the neck body rigidity of a high quality instrument. Furthermore, because these designs must be dismantled for travel or leave delicate parts exposed when traveling, the use of a bulky case is a strict necessity for carrying them to avoid damage. This requirement is a further disadvantage for a travel instrument.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an instrument that may be collapsed without disassembly or further adjustment to string tension and that when collapsed, stows all strings in an optimum manner in order to avoid damage to them.
It is another object of the invention to provide a stringed instrument that may be frequently transformed between a playing form and a travel form whilst retaining string tension and string tuning.
Another object is to provide a collapsible stringed instrument with improved portability and space saving benefits yet when in an operative form becomes a full-scale length instrument playable as customary instruments.
A further object is to provide an instrument that protects its critical parts when in its travel form thus negating the strict need to transport the instrument in case.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a stringed instrument with folding neck comprises an instrument body; a neck pivotally attached to body so as to allow rotation of neck from an operative position to a folded position; a string mount rotatably secured to said instrument body; at least one string having a first and a second end said first end attached to the neck, the second end attached to the string mount; and drive means for rotating the string mount in direct response to pivotal movement of said neck towards said body so as to wind said at least one string onto the string mount when said neck is pivotally moved between said operative position to said folded position.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following descriptions, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein, by way of illustration and example, an embodiment of the present invention is disclosed.